


Next Door

by leporidae



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-29 03:52:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3881221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leporidae/pseuds/leporidae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just Aomine's luck to be moving in next to the most unfathomably annoying airhead he had ever met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A cheesy, cliche-AU gift fic for a friend of mine.

“Shit – shit – _shitshitshitshitshit_ – ” Aomine could feel the weight of the heavy overstuffed box slipping out of his hands as he approached the door to his new apartment, and his mind flashed forward to what was about to happen: magazines and cutlery and clothes and whatever else he had haphazardly thrown into a box would spill everywhere, and he would drop the box on his foot trying to get his balance, then trip and stab his face into a fork, ruining his criminally good looks for the rest of his life, and he would have to go to the hospital and get stitches with a fork sticking out of his face, and –

“Do you need help with that?”

Straining with the effort, Aomine turned to look at the owner of the voice that had just addressed him – and scowled. Standing before him was a young blonde man who looked as clueless and cheerfully airheaded as a golden retriever puppy, and he could feel annoyance bubbling within him before even opening his mouth to respond. “No. I’m just peachy,” he growled, digging his nails into the side of the cardboard box to prevent it from shifting down even further.

“Really? You seem like you’re having a hard time with that.” Clearly, the other man had not registered the sarcasm, a disconnect that did not surprise Aomine in the slightest. “Are you sure – ”

“Yes, I’d like some help!” Aomine snapped, his exasperation rising to a dangerous level.

The man tilted his head slightly, and grinned. “All right.” He stepped around to the other side of the box so that his back was facing the open apartment door and placed his hands underneath, brushing his fingertips against Aomine’s as he did so. Aomine could not help but notice that the other man’s hands had the typical softness of someone who had never spent a day in his life doing any sort of manual labor, and just the thought pissed him off even further.

“Sure you’ve got it?” Aomine grumbled, hesitant to let up on his own grip lest the other proved himself to be as flimsy as he looked. “It’s pretty heavy.”

The blonde man’s lips pursed into a pout. “I offered to help you, didn’t I? Have a little faith.”

Oh god, that expression was _insufferable._ It was lucky for the other that Aomine’s hands were occupied, otherwise he would have slugged him right in that clueless face of his. “Good,” he said curtly, narrowing his eyes. “Then I’m gonna let up a bit, ‘cause my arms are practically falling off. Ready?”

A nod. “Ready.”

_Crash._

The moment Aomine relaxed, so too did his unhelpful companion, and just as he had predicted in his fantasy, his belongings were now clattering all over the floor. Only in his imagination, he had not had to deal with a certain stupid _someone_ letting go of the box.  “What the hell?” At least the box had not fallen on his foot, although Aomine regretted that it had not instead crushed the foot of his unbearable companion. “I told you to be ready! And you said you were! Are you an idiot?”

Silence. Then: “…It was heavier than I was expecting.”

This man’s idiocy was too much to bear. With a huff of annoyance, Aomine righted the upturned box and began to pick up his scattered belongings one by one, placing them back inside the box. “At least help me pack my stuff again, you dumbass.”

Normally, when Aomine spoke to people so caustically, they turned tail and fled, not wanting to deal with his harsh attitude. This man, however, seemed too oblivious to even care about the way he was being treated. “Mm, sure thing!” he agreed with an eager nod. “It’s the least I can do after dropping your box like an _idiot._ ” An almost smug smirk curled on his lips, and once again the urge to punch the other man swelled up within Aomine. “I don’t understand what was even in this box,” the blonde commented, picking up a spoon with one hand and one of Aomine’s ratty t-shirts in the other before tossing them both in the box at once. “Why would you pack your clothes and kitchen stuff in the same box? That doesn’t seem very sanitary. This stuff doesn’t even look washed.” He tossed a stained pair of jeans at Aomine, who caught them with ease. “Would you serve your guests with these forks after they’ve touched your gross pants? Remind me to never come over to your place for dinner.”

“Shut up! Who says you’re even invited?” Aomine threw the last of the items back into the box and began slowly nudging it into the open apartment with one foot. “I don’t even know who the hell you are. You could be a total creep, for all I know.”

The other man’s goofy grin never faltered. “That’s not very nice. For your information, I live next door to you.” He airily gestured to the room on the right with one hand. “I saw you struggling, and I figured it would be nice to get to know my neighbor by helping him out a little.”

Aomine huffed, folding his arms across his chest. “You didn’t help at all.”

The other man chuckled. “Guess I didn’t. Oh well.” Before Aomine could make another snarky remark, his neighbor had held out one hand for him to shake. “I’m Kise. Ryouta Kise, but no calling me by my first name until at least the third date, okay?” He winked to signify he was kidding, and Aomine had to exercise all his self-control not to roll his eyes. “I like to sing karaoke in my spare time, and I’m a pretty famous model around these parts. Not to sound totally full of myself, of course, but maybe you’ve heard of me? I’ve been gaining a lot of popularity, these days.”

Aomine wondered if he would be evicted from his apartment if he killed the other man right then and there in the hallway. “No,” he said flatly, giving Kise's hand a painful squeeze before letting go. “Never heard of you, and not interested. Name’s Daiki Aomine. No calling _me_ by my first name until, well, never. I don’t care if you’re my neighbor, I have no interest in getting all buddy-buddy with you.” Something about Kise rubbed him the wrong way, and more than ever he was itching to enter his new apartment and settle in. Alone.  “I have to go unpack now. This was the last box I had to move, and I’m gonna go deal with that now. So, bye.” With one last kick, he slid the box into his apartment and stepped through the open door after it without so much as glancing behind him.

“You’ll like me once you get to know me, Aomine-kun!” Kise whined in protest.

Aomine slammed the door in his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Aomine should have known that living next door to someone as outlandish as Kise would not be easy.

His neighbor-induced headache began the next morning, when he groggily clambered out of bed to make himself breakfast. Aomine was far from being a morning person, and in his half-asleep stupor he at first believed the noise emanating from the room next door was merely a hallucination of his sleepy mind. But once ten minutes had passed and the sound of what he realized was Kise’s incessant singing had not faded away into the recesses of his nightmares, he unfortunately had to admit to himself that it was very real. With his face still stuffed full of the omelette he had just cooked, Aomine strode to the far right side of his living room and pounded on the wall with one fist, smirking with satisfaction as he heard his neighbor’s startled yelp from the other side.

_Good. He stopped –_

No sooner had the thought entered his mind before the surprised noise was replaced with a merry laugh, and his neighbor resumed his song in an even louder voice, far more chipper than any human had the right to be at this hour.

_Kise’s voice is pleasant enough, and normally I wouldn’t even give a damn about what he got up to, but… it’s way too early to be dealing with this shit._

Every morning for the next five days, it was the same routine: Aomine would wake up, make himself breakfast, and cringe as he was serenaded by his neighbor against his will. He stopped hitting the wall for fear he would leave a dent and have to pay for repairs, but either way it was clear that Kise had no intention of stopping.

On the morning of the sixth day, as Aomine slipped out of his apartment to head to the grocery store, it was just his luck that Kise was leaving his own apartment at the same time. The man looked every bit the model he said he was, clad in tight jeans, a v-neck patterned with a dizzying calligraphy design, and giant studded sunglasses that looked like they belonged in a beach catalogue. For women. He even had a silver earring adorning his left ear that glinted in the light when he turned his head to look at Aomine. Suddenly Aomine felt underdressed – although that was ridiculous, since they were just standing in the apartment hallway. There was no need to don his Sunday best just to leave for the grocery store and come back.

“Where are you headed?” Kise chirped, flashing Aomine a grin that he clearly thought made him seem like the most charming man in the world.

“The store,” Aomine replied, making sure to scowl extra hard to convey his distaste for the conversation. “Have to restock the fridge.” Kise looked at him expectantly, but Aomine refused to ask the same question in return. Whatever Kise was up to, he just did not care.

Kise seemed to sense this, but plowed ahead anyway. “Mm. Well, I’m headed off to a photoshoot.”

“Is that why you’re dressed like that?”

The blonde laughed, and Aomine felt his eye twitch. “Dressed like – ? Oh, nah, I’m not doing the photoshoot in this. These are just my casual clothes.”

_Of course they were._

“Anyway, if you’re interested, you could always tag along. Maybe if you dressed a little nicer, you could even get some professional photos taken if you wanted. I mean, right now you look like you just rolled of bed, but I bet you could pull off fashionable clothes if you cleaned yourself up a little – ”

“I already said I wasn’t interested,” Aomine interrupted, pretending not to hear the jab at his current appearance. “You really don’t have any shame, do you?”

“Nope,” Kise replied cheerfully. “Well, see you around, neighbor.”

“Hope not,” Aomine said. “Oh – one more thing.”

Kise blinked questioningly.

“Shut the hell up in the morning. I’m sick of hearing you singing when I wake up.” As the words left his mouth, Kise’s shoulders began to shake, and for a moment Aomine thought he had actually offended him, that he was near tears. Then he realized the other man was merely trying to contain a violent bout of laughter, and Aomine grimaced. Would taking one thing he said seriously be too much to ask for?

“Sorry, sorry…” Kise waved his hand in apology. “It’s just, I get carried away in the shower.”

“In the shower,” Aomine echoed. “You sing in the shower.”

“I sing in the shower.”

The two neighbors stared at each other for a long while, neither wanting to change their ways or even apologize. Once Aomine could no longer stand the discomfort of the staring contest, he decided to give in. This was not a battle worth having. “I guess you’re entitled,” he said sourly. “Although, if you could maybe tone it down a little, that might be nice.”

“I’ll try to be softer,” Kise agreed, to Aomine’s surprise. “Or we could compromise – you could make me a playlist of songs you like, and I could sing those. Would that be less annoying?”

“Are you an idiot? No way in hell am I making you a playlist.”

Kise winked. “I was kidding, anyway. Well, I better get going, before my fans wonder if I got kidnapped, or something, and start a riot. And you – don’t you have, I dunno, food to buy or something?”

Aomine glowered at him. “When you compare me buying food to you having fans, you really make me sound lame. Asshole.”

The model shrugged. “It kind of is lame.” Before Aomine could protest, Kise had brushed past him, heading towards the stairwell. “Well, see you around, Aomine-kun.”

“Sure,” Aomine muttered, refusing to make eye contact. Besides, he could not even tell if Kise was looking at him behind those giant sunglasses of his. “…Kise.”

He watched the model descend the staircase, then waited an extra five minutes before heading out as well. Aomine hardly wanted to be accused of following him, after all. 

* * *

 “I feel like I don’t know you at all, Aominecchi. Let’s grab a bite to eat together.”

“Hell no – eh? What did you just call me?”

Another week had passed since the two had conversed in the hallway. Since then, Aomine had begrudgingly accepted Kise’s singing habit, although he also noticed that Kise’s volume had in fact dropped drastically. He had also begun to accept Kise’s overly-energetic greetings every morning, although he usually did not respond with anything other than an irritable grunt, or a dismissive wave if he was feeling particularly agreeable. Today, however, was different, as Kise had forcibly grabbed his arm as he stepped out of his apartment, insisting that he wanted to talk. It was hard to refuse someone who was holding him there against his will.

“Aominecchi.”

“No, I heard you, I meant – ” Aomine massaged his right temple with two fingers, feeling that all-too-familar headache coming on. “That’s not my name.”

“It’s a nickname.”

“Since when were we on nickname terms?”

“Since I felt like giving you a nickname. You can call me Kisecchi, if you’d like. Or Ryoutacchi, if you’re feeling particularly cute.”

Aomine scoffed. “I’d rather climb onto the roof and strip naked.”

“Well, I don’t care what you call me,” Kise said, “but you never answered me about the invitation.”

A lunch offer. If Kise had asked a week ago, Aomine would have turned him down without a second thought. But enough time had passed that Aomine was beginning to feel slightly guilty about being such an unresponsive neighbor. He knew he was not obligated to be nice to anyone, even if they were living next door, but he was not without a conscience. Even though Kise was irritating, he was at least making an effort to befriend him, which Aomine supposed was… commendable. Maybe. “All right,” he replied, grimacing as he watched Kise’s face light up. “Nothing fancy, though. And if you start talking too much, I’ll seriously stand up and walk out on you. Don’t test me.”

“I’m glad you agreed!” Kise said, as usual ignoring the biting nature of Aomine’s reply. “You won’t regret it, I promise. Let’s go!”

“Eh – right now?”

“Right now.”

And suddenly Kise had grabbed his arm and was dragging him out of the building, not even giving Aomine time to fix his untied shoe or check his face in the mirror for toothpaste stains or breakfast crumbs.

* * *

 Aomine did, in fact, regret it.

The first ten minutes at the diner had been normal – well, they had at least been exactly what Aomine would have expected: Kise prattling incessantly about some argument that had transpired between him and his manager, and Aomine  in return completely glazing over and tuning him out. It did not even seem to bother Kise that Aomine was so blatantly ignoring him, so intent was he in the retelling of his story.

Aomine had just been about to flag down the waiter to order the biggest burger on the menu when all hell broke loose.

At first, he thought from the thunderous noise that a herd of wild animals had escaped from the zoo and were approaching the diner. Then Aomine heard the high pitched screams accompanying the clomping of footsteps, and he realized seconds before the door of the diner was thrown open that what was advancing towards them was not a herd of animals, but a herd of girls.

Suddenly, the inside of the diner was swarming with females, all of which were crowded around their tiny booth. Normally, that sort of situation would be ideal to Aomine – after all, who would complain about being surrounded by cute girls, especially if they were well-endowed?

Except they were all there for Kise.

_“Kise-san, I saw your pictures in last month’s issue, they were some of your best!”_

_“When I saw you in the street, my heart nearly stopped! I called all my friends and let them know you were here. We’re all such huge fans of yours.”_

_“Kise-san, will you sign my photobook?”_

Aomine squirmed uncomfortably. He had neither felt so invisible nor so upstaged in his entire life, and he was not enjoying the experience. Furiously, he glanced at his companion, who flashed him an apologetic smile – and then promptly began ignoring him as well. “Now, now, one at a time,” Kise said. “I’ll sign your stuff, if you form a single file line – ” And all the girls were scrambling into formation as if Kise’s words had bewitched them.

It was too much for Aomine to handle. Wordlessly he slid out of the booth, and despite Kise’s pained expression, ducked out of the diner. The moment the door shut with a soft jingle and Aomine stepped onto the sidewalk, scowling at the sun and shielding his eyes with one hand as he did so, he felt a strange mix of emotions churning within him. Exasperation and embarrassment, which were reasonable, but also hurt and – oddly enough – betrayal. _I thought that today was supposed to be just you and me._ The thought floated to the top of his mind unwittingly, and he had no idea where it had even come from. Why did he care whether or not his lunch with Kise had been interrupted? He had not even been looking forward to it in the first place. If anything, he should be relieved that he no longer had to spend the next hour listening to the incessant prattling of a flighty idiot.

_So why…?_

“Aominecchi!”

Aomine stopped suddenly and swiveled around to see Kise running after him, his sleek hair disheveled and his sunglasses slightly askew on the bridge of his nose. Glancing at the comical state of the man in front of him, he allowed an amused smirk to flit upon his lips. “Finish signing autographs, pretty boy?”

There was that childish pout again. “No, I didn’t! I just disappointed a lot of fans, you know! Why’d you have to run off like that?”

A low chuckle escaped Aomine’s throat. “You’re the one running. I was just casually sauntering down the street. Don’t tell me you’ve fallen head over heels for me?”

“Nope.” Kise rested his hands on his hips and stared Aomine down. “I just wanted to get to know you, I told you that.”

“Sure about that?”

“I’m sure.”

“Because I’m pretty damn attractive, you know.”

“You’re talking to a model. You look like you just crawled out of a dumpster.”

“Well, you look like a girl.”

“At least I’m not a girl who crawled out of the dumpster.”

Aomine laughed genuinely, surprising himself. “Fair point. Well, next time, I’ll put on a collared shirt and slick back my hair a little. Then those girls will realize I’m the sexier one after all, and they’ll be all over me instead of you.”

“I take it back, I’d rather you look like a slob,” Kise said with a grin. “I don’t need the competition.”

“So you admit I’m sexy.”

“Well, it takes one to know one.”

“You little – shit. That was the most self-serving compliment I’ve ever heard. Prick.”

Bantering with Kise felt so natural all of a sudden. Maybe it was the ridiculousness of the situation they had just escaped – after all, how many times had Aomine been out to lunch with someone and been swarmed by a veritable paparazzi of teenage girls? Never. Perhaps something like that was normal for Kise, but for Aomine, the whole ordeal had been so stupid that it was, admittedly, a bit funny. At least in hindsight.

“Also, you said ‘next time,’” Kise said, breaking through Aomine’s thoughts.

A shrug. “Mm. Yeah.”

“As in, next time we go out together?”

More shrugging. “Yeah. I’m not in the mood to go back in there, not with all those girls around. I’ll go eat at home, or something. But…” He winced. “Maybe some other time…?” _Why am I agreeing to this? God, I’m stupid._

The model flashed him a peace sign, a girlish gesture which only served to further irritate him. “Remember, Aominecchi, you can’t call me by my first name until the third date! I’m a man of good character, you know.”

“Go to hell, model bastard.”

Kise chuckled, unfazed. “Speaking of hell, I have work pretty soon, so if you’re going home, I’m gonna part ways with you here.”

“Work? Are you taking nude photos for a porn magazine? Wouldn’t put it past you. You may act like a man of good character during the day, but I can’t even imagine all the lewd things you model types get up to when the press isn’t around.”

“Gross, Aominecchi,” Kise huffed, lightly punching him in the shoulder. “Nothing like that. I can show you the photos later if you’re interested – ”

“I’m not interested.”

“Well, I’ll show you anyway.” As Aomine rolled his eyes, Kise waved and began his trek in the opposite direction. “Sorry again about…” He gestured back towards the diner. “Well, all of that. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”

“Good.” Aomine turned to head back to their apartment complex.

“See you around, neighbor.”

“…” _Ah, what the hell._ “Yeah… see you around.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when I'm going to write and post the last three chapters. Hopefully within the month. No promises, though, since this is the busiest time of school for me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I said I was going to update this within a month, and now it's six months later and I'm finally adding another chapter. Just goes to show I shouldn't believe in myself quite that much... Anyway, sorry for taking so long to update. I've always intended to finish this, and I still do - I just don't know by when.

Since the fiasco at the diner, Aomine and Kise had eaten together twice. The first time had been another attempt at a public endeavor. Kise had stuffed his hair into a beanie and borrowed one of Aomine’s ratty sweatshirts to appear less conspicuous, but due to the model’s constant paranoia about being spotted (a fear which, not having to deal with it himself, annoyed Aomine to no end) the interaction was strained. Eventually, _mercifully_ , Kise caught on to the fact that prattling on about the threat of his fans was grating on Aomine, and he had awkwardly attempted to divert the subject. But by the end of their time together, both men agreed that the interaction had been largely unsuccessful.

It was then that Aomine had suggested an alternative. Perhaps it would be easier, lower key at least, to just share a meal in his apartment rather than at a restaurant where Kise could be spotted. Aomine had expected Kise to scoff at the idea, to proclaim that he had good taste in venues and thus would not settle for Aomine’s cluttered living room sofa. Aomine had not yet set up the dining room chairs – or even the dining room table, for that matter. But Kise surprised him by having the opposite reaction, seemingly overenthusiastic about the prospect of a casual get together.

Unlike their past attempts at socializing with one another, this one turned out to be surprisingly comfortable. Aomine ordered take out, and the two ate out of the boxes with plastic forks while skimming through the stations on Aomine’s television. They couldn’t decide on what to watch; Kise was too tired from work to want to put up with a loud action movie, and Aomine scoffed at the comedies. So eventually they settled on having a conversation.

Nothing Aomine learned about Kise was particularly fascinating. He became aware that the model thought earthworms were gross (“once, when I was little, one of my older sisters tried to serve me a bowl and told me it was spaghetti – I cried for _hours_ –”), that he was not a very good student in high school (relatable), that he enjoyed singing karaoke in his free time. And yet, despite the trivial nature of these tidbits, Aomine was interested. He even, much to his own dismay, found himself agreeing to have a karaoke night with the model during some future weekend, though he chose not to specify a date in the hope that he would be able to weasel out of it eventually.

In return, Aomine told Kise some useless facts about himself as well. That he liked dogs and hated bees, that he wrote his own autobiography in his spare time as a hobby – which got a laugh out of Kise (“Isn’t that the same as writing a journal?”). He told him about his childhood friend Momoi Satsuki, a strong willed and stubborn girl who kept him in check since he had no siblings, and showed him the pictures he had of her saved on his phone. Kise remarked that she was rather pretty and that he could see her working as a model, a comment which Aomine could only shrug at. He cared about Momoi, of course, but it was hard to see her as anything other than a slightly overbearing friend. Even admiring her breasts – and the size they were now was certainly admirable indeed – seemed a bit much for Aomine to think about, considering that he and Momoi had seen each other naked plenty of times as children. He wondered to what extent Kise found her attractive; for some reason, that thought also made him a bit uncomfortable. Even so, he promised the model that he would, _begrudgingly_ , tag along if the two of them were to ever go shopping together.

Though nothing particularly life changing occurred over that dinner, after that night Aomine began to view Kise differently. The person who had originally to him been nothing more than an annoying neighbor had become an actual friend – or at least, the beginnings of one. He no longer felt as irritated listening to Kise sing in the morning, and he greeted the model with genuine enthusiasm each time they saw each other in the apartment lobby or in the hallway.

And he did, eventually, keep his promise and have a karaoke night with the other. It was a lot less awkward than Aomine had been expecting. Perhaps it was because by this time, Kise’s smile had become a source of reassurance for him.

* * *

Kise was not always smiling.

He came back from a photoshoot once late at night, and Aomine heard him. Not in the way he usually heard him, lighthearted and singing, but with frustration and rage – and were those tears? When Kise kicked the wall once, twice, before entering his apartment, Aomine could hear it reverberate through his own wall, and he considered knocking on his neighbor’s door to tell him that his late night temper tantrum was annoying – but decided against it. Everyone had their bad days, so he could forgive the noise for once.

Except it happened again, and again, and again.

It was five days before Aomine finally confronted his neighbor. Not because he was annoyed – the time for that had passed – but because he was now genuinely concerned about the other’s wellbeing.

“Aominecchi…?” The model opened his door and blinked at Aomine, confusion apparent on his features. “What are you doing here – what do you need?”

Kise’s eyes didn’t look puffy as if he had been crying recently, which was at least a small relief for Aomine. “What’s been going on?” he asked, cutting right to the chase. “You’ve been coming back to your apartment really angry. And don’t act like you haven’t been – I can hear you muttering to yourself every night. Plus –” He flashed a brief grin in the other’s direction, hoping to cut the tension a bit. “I’ve missed hearing your stupid voice singing in the morning. It’s like an annoying alarm clock.”

Much to Aomine’s relief, the jest made Kise’s features soften rather than close off. “Hah – very funny. Didn’t know you would grow so lonely without my _angelic_ singing keeping your spirits up, Aominecchi.”

He could tell Kise was sidestepping the subject, but Aomine wasn’t going to let his original intent get derailed. “And _your_ spirits? What about them?” he shot back, steering the conversation back on its proper course. “Seriously, man – what’s up?” Kise glanced to the side, looking as though he wasn’t going to clarify, and Aomine sighed, placing one hand on the other’s shoulder and shaking him slightly. “C’mon, you can tell me.”

Kise looked a bit startled and brushed off Aomine’s hand with his own, but the guarded expression had left his eyes. “Fine, I guess I can – I mean, it’s _stupid_ , it really is, but – well, why don’t you come in? I don’t want to talk about it in the hall.”

He followed the model inside and the two situated themselves on Kise’s sofa. “I doubt it’s stupid, if it’s making you so upset,” Aomine said. “Even if it is, well – I won’t make fun of you.” A smirk. “Too much, anyway.”

Kise rolled his eyes. “I appreciate it. But anyway…” His eyes clouded with frustration once again. “It’s about this guy who was my freshman roommate in college. We… well, we didn’t get along, to say the least. I was hardly a good student myself, but he’d come back to the room night after night wasted out of his mind, sometimes with a girl, and he’d kick me out when that happened… I lost track of the number of times I got, well, _sexiled._ ” He laughed once, a nervous, humorless laugh. “I think deep down I knew he was awful with those girls, but I never knew what to do… In the end, I just waited it out until the following year, when I had a different roommate. Do you think it was wrong of me?” And suddenly he was looking at Aomine expectantly. “Not to do anything, I mean.”

Aomine shrugged uncomfortably. When it came to being overprotective, he knew he would beat up any guy who looked at Momoi sideways with no hesitation – in fact, in the past he had gotten into fights with random passerby simply because they had whistled at her. “Might have been wrong of you,” he admitted. “But it’s in the past, right?”

“At least you’re being honest…” Kise ran a hand through his hair. “That’s the thing – he found me again. And whenever I have photoshoots, or any other similar events, he always…” He shuddered. “Picks up girls there. And it makes me sick, but – I talked to my agent about it, but he said it was none of my business. Which I guess, to some extent, is true, but – damn it!” With one first he slammed the back of his couch, startling Aomine. “I feel like I’m the one who’s causing these girls to get preyed on, you know? ‘Cause I can’t kick him out, and sometimes he’ll approach me like we’re good friends – he’s good at turning on the charm when it benefits him, and they can’t see how slimy he is – it’s just – it pisses me off. I feel like I’ve become, like, his partner in crime against my will. It doesn’t sit right – makes me sick.”

Aomine was thoughtful for a moment. It sounded like Kise had every right to be concerned about this guy. From his description, he seemed like a person Aomine would punch in the face with no hesitation upon meeting him. “This former roommate of yours – what’s his name?”

Kise raised one eyebrow. “Hmm? Why do you want to know? You better not be thinking about doing anything, Aominecchi. The last thing I want is for you to get involved.”

“I promise, I won’t,” Aomine lied easily.

“All right…” Kise still looked dubious, but he didn’t press the matter. “It’s Haizaki… Haizaki Shougo.”

 _Haizaki._ He filed the name away for future reference. “Eh, well – if I ever meet him, I’ll know he’s scum. Thanks for the warning.”

Kise laughed weakly. “You don’t think _I’m_ scum, for not doing anything?”

Aomine shook his head. “Nah – I think you’re scum for not introducing _me_ to any of those girls, though.”

The model seemed relieved, and grinned. “I don’t wanna take responsibility for something like that. Like, if it went totally south - I don't want those girls blaming me, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aomine said. “Those girls would love me and you know it – you just don’t want me to steal your thunder. Listen, though – I really appreciate you telling me all this -" Before he could finish, a yawn stretched his features, and he blinked apologetically in Kise's direction. "I'm pretty beat, sorry. But if you want, we can talk about it more in the morning.”

Kise shook his head. “That’s all I really needed to say. Thanks for listening.” A pause. “You know, Aominecchi, if you’re really that tired, you can just stay over.”

“Eh? Like, crash on the couch? You don’t mind?” Though before Kise could respond, Aomine had already stretched out his legs and leaned back.

“I literally _just_ offered, so of course I don’t mind.”

“All right, then I’ll stay here.” Aomine didn’t think anything of it; he would take any opportunity he could get to be lazy, even if it meant not walking the extra few steps back to his own neighboring apartment. And though he'd never admit it to Kise, he didn't want the model to be alone if he got upset again. Solitude made people do stupid things - Aomine knew this from experience. “You better not go off into your bedroom and start crying loudly, or I’ll smother you with one of these couch cushions.”

“Duly noted,” Kise replied, standing up with a wave of his hand. “Goodnight, Aominecchi. And thanks again for –”

Aomine growled softly. “Don’t mention it, I mean it. You’re keeping me awake. Get out of here already so I can sleep.”

Kise huffed loudly as he turned to leave.

“Idiot.”


End file.
